Reflection from a Dream
by Dreamtigers
Summary: There's someone I almost remember. At the corner of my eye, the tip of my tongue. Who is it?


_So, this is the first thing I've ever posted here, and I'm nervous like you would not believe. It's kind of a re-imagining of the KH2 prologue in the wake of 358/2 Days. Just an irrelevant thought I had one day that decided to stick with me until I shared it. I apologize for the utter pointlessness._

* * *

"This is… me?" The drawing was crude, but there was really no mistaking the swirl of yellow hair. Or the jagged red atop the figure beside him. "And Axel's here, too…"

"You _are_ best friends."

"Very funny," he said vaguely, but his attention had drifted to the other black-coated figures in the background. Naminé hadn't bothered to give them much detail, since the focus of the picture was obviously meant to be Roxas and Axel, but still Roxas found himself studying them carefully, almost as if he expected to recognize them if he only looked long enough. He reached up and lightly brushed his fingertips over the center of the paper, which was conspicuously blank except for a few wrinkles and smudges. "Did there used to be something else here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you draw someone else at first, then erase them?"

Naminé laughed softly. It was a pleasant, soothing sound, but Roxas still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something was missing (_he was missing something?_)

"I draw with crayons, Roxas. They don't erase." He could still hear the gentle laughter in her voice.

"Oh. Yeah," he replied, trying not to sound so uncertain. Couldn't erase it if you tried…

"I appreciate your interest in my drawings," said Naminé after a moment, "but don't you want to know the truth? About who you really are?"

"No one knows me better than me."

She giggled again. "Of course."

Roxas tore his eyes away from the paper pinned to the wall, looking around for Naminé. "But… I don't get what's been happening lately."

As he listened to more of Naminé's cryptic hints and half-explanations, Roxas let the weirdly incomplete picture slip to the back of his mind. In the face of the mystery that was his existence, it was hardly surprising. It was just a weird feeling, probably not anything important.

* * *

Rather than panic at seeing more of those creepy white things, Roxas was quickly getting exasperated. Was his life really not strange enough already with the hallucinations and freezing time? He turned to face the whooshing sound behind and almost sighed when he saw Axel appear from the dark smoke. _Apparently not_.

"Look at what it's come to. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you if you refuse to come back with me." This time Roxas actually had to remind himself not to roll his eyes. Typical melodramatic Axel.

Suddenly, he realized just how completely _bizarre_ this all was. Not the situation itself—he'd just about given up on understanding that—but his reaction to it. Seriously, he gets attacked by monsters and he's mildly annoyed? A guy threatens to kill him and he _rolls his eyes_? Those were not the normal responses of a normal person confronting abnormal things.

According to Naminé he used to deal with monsters and Axel all the time; could it be that he was remembering? At least enough not to freak out?

"We're… best friends," he said tentatively, experimentally. "Right?"

"Sure," Axel admitted easily, "but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for—" Roxas could literally see the second the implication caught up with him. He would have laughed if the expression wasn't just a little too familiar for comfort. "—Wait a sec! You remember now?"

"N-no," Roxas corrected, hastening to prevent any excitement and subsequent homicidal disappointment. "I mean," he added quickly at the look on Axel's face, "I kind of—it's weird. I don't exactly remember things, but I think I'm starting to get these sort of—echoes? Like, I don't exactly remember you, but I kind of remember… being with you, I guess. How it felt." He stopped, frustrated with himself. "I sound crazy. This is crazy."

"No, no, no!" Axel, by contrast, was looking only slightly less eager than he had a minute ago, when he thought Roxas had miraculously remembered everything. "Come on, tell me! Maybe talking about it will help you remember more!"

Roxas blinked, a little taken aback by his enthusiasm. "Well," he began hesitantly. "These echo-things, it's not like I have them all the time, only when something pretty big happens. Like when I was fighting those monster things." _And you_, he did not say.

Axel nodded. Vigorously. "Of course. Your survival instincts kicked in, kept you from getting killed. You don't forget stuff like that, it's too deep. You saw danger and summoned your Keyblade. It's second nature for you, like breathing."

"I guess that makes sense," Roxas conceded, not allowing himself to dwell on exactly _who_ he had been in that other life. _Figure that out when you can remember it_. "But besides those times, I probably feel it the most up on the clock tower. So many times lately, me and the guys are just hanging out up there, and it's suddenly like, _I've done this before, and not with them_. I can only write it off as déjà vu so many times. The other day, when I almost fell—that was the worst one."

Axel looked elated. "Roxas, that's our spot! You and me used to go up there all the time and eat ice cream after missions."

Roxas's eyes went wide. "Sea-salt ice cream?" Axel beamed.

"You bet!" he laughed. "Still eating those things, huh? And to think you thought I was crazy when I introduced you to them. You remember that?"

"I guess so… almost…" That sounded right, it _felt_ right. "Was there ever a time when I almost fell off?"

Axel laughed, still giddy at this good fortune. "Not that I remember, klutz, although that's kind of amazing, with you lurching around like a zombie all the time."

"Are you certain?" He was so sure…

"Pretty certain," Axel replied, smiling at him, "but don't worry, if you had ever slipped I would've caught you with my catlike reflexes."

Roxas was only half listening, gazing into space. "…No, not you… someone else…" He frowned suddenly and turned back to Axel.

"Was there someone else? Someone who was with us a lot?"

"Ha, nope, it was only ever the two of us up there, our secret hideout." He chuckled. "The dynamic duo."

Roxas's frown was deepening, nearly a scowl. "No, there was someone, I'm positive. Who else did we spend a lot of time with? A—a girl?"

Axel raised his eyebrows. "You mean Larxene?" He gave an exaggerated shudder. "I don't know about you, but I always tried to _avoid_ spending time with her."

Roxas shook his head distractedly. "A girl… she was our friend… she was my age, I think…"

"You don't mean Naminé? I didn't think you had ever met her. I never saw you two together."

Roxas nearly growled in frustration. "No!" Why couldn't Axel cooperate? Didn't he realize how difficult this was? He couldn't remember his _life_. Did he have any idea how freaky that was? Roxas forced himself to rein in his impatience.

"A girl," he ground out. "My age, with dark hair and—and blue eyes, yeah. She was our friend. She was in danger. Something—I think something happened to her." Eyes wide, he looked at Axel. "What happened to her? Where is she?"

Axel's smile had disappeared completely now, replaced by a confused frown. "Honestly, Roxas, I have no idea what you're talking about. You might need to work a little more on the remembering thing. Don't worry, I'll help when we get home."

For some unknown reason, this made Roxas angry. He knew he was right about the girl. It was on the tip of his tongue, but every time he grabbed for the thought it managed to slip away. Zio—Xi—something! Axel had to know, he could see it clear as day, the three of them sitting in front of the clock eating ice cream, legs dangling over the ledge. Why was he keeping it from Roxas? Instead he insisted that he was mistaken. It wasn't possible for Roxas to make up a whole other person, one who fit so perfectly with the rest of his recollections, was it?

_And if it was_, suggested a sly voice in his mind, _if it's true you just imagined her, how can you trust any of your memories? They could all be fake. Wouldn't be the first time would it? Wouldn't be the first time Axel lied to you either._

He wasn't sure where he got that last part, but he knew it was true. He knew, somehow, that Axel was not trustworthy. And Roxas was foolish for thinking he was.

"Liar," he hissed, watching in detached satisfaction as Axel mouth fell open at his sudden change in attitude. "_Liar!_" he said louder, and it felt right.

Axel looked panicked, now that it was all slipping away. "Roxas, no, listen, it's the truth! There was only one woman in the Organization, and she died soon after you came. Naminé was your age, but she had blonde hair. You never met any girl with black hair and blue eyes—"

"_Stop lying to me!_" Roxas yelled. "You're trying to trick me. They all just always wanted to control us, and you're helping them. _Traitor!_" He jerked into motion, and Axel tensed before he realized that Roxas had moved away from him, diving to the ground to grab up a short stick. In a flash, the Keyblade was in his hands, and he was charging at Axel.

* * *

Some small part of Roxas felt strangely vindicated as he dodged Axel's flames and weird bladed wheels. _So, he really was trying to kill me all this time. Some best friend_. But mostly he kept thinking about the girl, repeating to himself, _she's real, she's real, she's real_. Even as the frail, translucent memories began to break apart like mist, he desperately tried to hold onto them.

She was real. She existed. She was his friend, with blue eyes and blonde hair—no, no, dark hair! She had dark red hair, right? And sort of violet-blue eyes? She—what was her name, again? He knew her name, didn't he?

Who _was_ she?

_Can't be that important_, some small, rational part of him snapped impatiently (most of his rational self was focused on not getting charred).

_Otherwise you'd have remembered_.

* * *

_I'm almost afraid to ask, but... let me know what you think?_


End file.
